Electronic devices have frequently, depending on the manner of construction, a housing, into which moisture can penetrate. Condensation of this moisture on circuit components in the interior of the housing can lead to malfunctions, or even complete failure of the device. It is, consequently, important that this be prevented over long periods of time.
To this end, it is known to provide moisture filters in housing openings, or to arrange absorbers in the housing. The described adsorbers prove, however, not to be satisfactory for long term use, especially in the face of temperature changes.
The as yet unpublished patent application DE 10 2010 038 986 discloses a composite material, which has a polymer matrix and a zeolite. Since zeolites only desorb adsorbed water at comparatively high temperatures, the composite material requires the use of correspondingly temperature-resistant polymers, when a drying of formed bodies of this composite material should be possible. This leads, however, to the fact that the selection of suitable polymers is significantly limited, and that, additionally, the costs for the composite material increase, since temperature-resistant polymers are expensive. Additionally, in the case of normal operating temperatures of a usual electronic device, the desorption temperature of water bound in zeolite is not reached. This means that a formed body of a composite material containing zeolite, even in the case of great dryness in the environment, is scarcely able to shed bound water. Because of this, there is lacking an opportunity for controlled shedding of moisture at times of dryness for lengthening the service life of a formed body formed of the composite material to serve as desiccant.